Overview
Simply put, the term fiduciary applies to the more than five million individuals who have the legal responsibility for managing someone else's money. A fiduciary is required by law to always act in the best interests of his or her client, beneficiary, or retirement plan participant. Yet, many fiduciaries are not even aware of their duties and responsibilities.
Accredited Investment Fiduciary® (AIF®) designees have been provided with the tools and training to help them acquire a thorough knowledge of fiduciary responsibility and can be an invaluable resource to investment fiduciaries and individual investors alike.
Don't risk going it alone; AIF designees have the expertise to help ensure that an investment management process is managed to an appropriate fiduciary standard of care.
Training
AIF designees have successfully completed a specialized program on investment fiduciary standards of care at the Center for Fiduciary Studies. The Center, in association with the University of Pittsburgh Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business, was established in 1999 to provide the investment industry with the first full-time training and research facility focused exclusively on investment fiduciary responsibility and portfolio management.
Designees have passed a comprehensive examination on the 27 Prudent Investment Practices that formed the basis of their training. Designees are also required to strictly adhere to continuing professional education requirements, which aids them in staying abreast of recent events in the industry that are affecting every fiduciary.
Prudent Investment Process
The 27 practices that designees follow have been derived from interpretations of legislation, case law, and regulatory opinion letters that govern the fiduciary. Prudent Investment Practices, the published handbook that describes these practices, was co-produced by the Center and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). Each of the 27 practices also makes good investment sense, and using the process they define should help to improve long-term investment performance.